§ 54.675   Cap.

   (a) Amount of the annual cap. The aggregate annual cap on federal universal
   service support for health care providers shall be $400 million per funding
   year, of which up to $150 million per funding year will be available to
   support upfront payments and multi-year commitments under the Healthcare
   Connect Fund.

   (b) Funding year. A funding year for purposes of the health care providers
   cap shall be the period July 1 through June 30.

   (c) Requests. Funds shall be available as follows:

   (1) Generally, funds shall be available to eligible health care providers on
   a first-come-first-served basis, with requests accepted beginning on the
   first of January prior to each funding year.

   (2) For the Telecommunications Program and the Healthcare Connect Fund, the
   Administrator  shall  implement a filing window period that treats all
   eligible health care providers filing within the window period as if their
   applications were simultaneously received.

   (3) [Reserved]

   (4)  The  deadline  to  submit  a funding commitment request under the
   Telecommunications Program and the Healthcare Connect Fund is June 30 for
   the funding year that begins on the previous July 1.

   (d) Annual filing requirement. Health care providers shall file new funding
   requests for each funding year, except for health care providers who have
   received a multi-year funding commitment under § 54.644.

   (e) Long-term contracts. If health care providers enter into long-term
   contracts for eligible services, the Administrator shall only commit funds
   to cover the portion of such a long-term contract scheduled to be delivered
   during the funding year for which universal service support is sought,
   except for multi-year funding commitments as described in § 54.644.

   (f)  Pro-rata  reductions  for Telecommunications Program support. The
   Administrator shall act in accordance with this section when a filing window
   period for the Telecommunications Program and the Healthcare Connect Fund,
   as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, is in effect. When a
   filing window period described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section closes,
   the Administrator shall calculate the total demand for Telecommunications
   Program and Healthcare Connect Fund support submitted by all applicants
   during the filing window period. If the total demand during a filing window
   period exceeds the total remaining support available for the funding year,
   the Administrator shall take the following steps:

   (1) The Administrator shall divide the total remaining funds available for
   the funding year by the total amount of Telecommunications Program and
   Healthcare Connect Fund support requested by each applicant that has filed
   during the window period, to produce a pro-rata factor.

   (2) The Administrator shall calculate the amount of Telecommunications
   Program and Healthcare Connect Fund support requested by each applicant that
   has filed during the filing window.

   (3) The Administrator shall multiply the pro-rata factor by the total dollar
   amount  requested  by  each applicant filing during the window period.
   Administrator   shall   then   commit  funds  to  each  applicant  for
   Telecommunications Program and Healthcare Connect Fund support consistent
   with this calculation.

   [ 78 FR 13992 , Mar. 1, 2013]

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